Tower Hamlets Council launches £8 million Anti-Crime Task Force
Tower Hamlets Council has put £ 8 million into an anti-crime scheme including 26 council-funded police officers and upgraded CCTV systems.
A new task force which aims to cut down on bike and phone thefts, and antisocial behaviour and support the overall safety of residents has launched in Tower Hamlets.
Tower Hamlets Council has invested £8 million into the scheme, which will see THEOs work closely with 26 council-funded police officers to provide a greater enforcement presence around the borough.
On the afternoon of February 13, Mayor Lutfur Rahman and Lead Member for Safer Communities, Abu Talha Chowdhury, joined local police and THEOs in Altab Ali Park to launch the new task force.
Cllr Chowdhury told the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service (BBC LDRS): ‘[The Anti-Crime Task Force] is a showcase of our partnership work but also the investment the council has put into community safety.’
THEOs have patrolled the borough’s streets for the last 15 years and have certain powers under section 50 of the Police Reform Act which allows them to obtain a person’s details and, in some cases, can issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).
They also work with other agencies in the borough to help vulnerable people who need support such as those who are sleeping rough or are struggling with substance misuse.
In 2024, THEOs carried out 29,500 hours of patrols, while council-funded police officers have made 415 arrests since April 2022 – there are currently 54 THEOs with an additional 10 being recruited. Enforcement Officer Jack Darby said: ‘Our main premise is to engage with people, encourage and support and lead on certain situations where we may have to issue FPNs. Ultimately, it’s about engagement and education.’
He added: ‘One of the main issues I would say in this borough is homelessness, there’s a lot of people that are homeless and are rough sleeping in the borough. Our job is to engage with them, get them the help and support their needs as well as getting them into a hostel.’
Detective Superintendent Vicky Tunstall said: ‘This is a really unique model that other boroughs, if they can, should try and replicate – the investment from the Mayor and from the council makes a significant difference. The council funded police officers are a real asset to have, they are very proactive and are very crime focused – but I [also] really like the mix that we do with the enforcement officers.’
Det Sup Tunstall added: ‘When they go onto the estates and they identify problems that are not within their powers to be able to deal with, they then have that support network of coming into funded policing teams here who can provide an additional set of powers and together we make a difference with enforcement, with engagement, and with utilising that joint power approach.’
The council says its £8 million investment includes a new dog patrol service and upgrades to the CCTV room.
The CCTV upgrades include a ‘state-of-the-art’ LED video wall display unit which can monitor 42 cameras at the same time, while 350 street-based cameras have been upgraded from analogue to digital.
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I suppose this is to be welcomed though I await to see the impact. The problem in the borough is lawlessness and the obvious examples of lawlessness – it goes beyond bike and phone thefts. Stand by any controlled crossing on main roads and see the number of cyclists ignoring red lights: pedestrians risk injury. And grafffiti on buildings remains month-on-month, a visual degradation of our shared environment. I would have liked your item to have been more challenging of council and police: what are the success rates for home burglary, assault convictions, use of CCTV in identifying repeat offenders. Has traditional beat policing gone for good? What fora exisit in Tower Hamlets for concerned citizens to meet policy-makers and law-enforcers? This read as a bit of a PR job for the Met and the Council. I hope you might show your journalistic teeth. If I see evidence of this I’ll gladly make monthly subscriptions.